


Solaris

by Herald_of_Dreams



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Drama, F/M, M/M, Possible Mpreg, Romance, Slash, Werewolf Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2013-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-22 00:59:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/907023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herald_of_Dreams/pseuds/Herald_of_Dreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Warnings: Alive! James, Lily, Sirius and Remus. AU to Deathly Hallows, continuing war, mild bashing, either gen or SLASH, no Horcruxes, werewolf Harry, extremely prejudiced! Ministry<br/> Summary: For reasons unknown the Fates decide to kick James, Lily, Remus and Sirius back into the world of the living. However, almost 20 years have passed since Remus died and things are very grim indeed. Severus/Lily, James/Sirius, Remus/?, Harry/?, Draco/Hermione</p>
            </blockquote>





	Solaris

**One- _Dark Times Indeed_**

The park was inconspicuous in every way. Perhaps it’s only claim to fame was being across from 12 Grimmauld Place, formerly a home for the Order of the Phoenix. However, they had long since been forced to evacuate and now it was an empty husk. Dull and dreary, like most of the surrounding neighborhood, the park was remarkably absent of any colour outside of a dull monochrome of black, brown and grey.

There was a small fountain in the middle of the park and a metal bench. A young Sirius Black had sat on the bench a fair few times, escaping his parents’ pureblood notions by staring at the bubbling water for a few hours. His parents had loathed and feared Muggles, so they sent his younger brother Regulus out to fetch him when they wanted him to come back inside. Usually they managed to forget about their older son and Regulus would come and fetch him on his own.

For a moment in time, however, the park was about to become remarkable. It started with a pale glow that slowly grew in intensity. Muggles, being who they were and desperate to avoid anything out of the ordinary, would ignore it or blame it on a particularly bright moon, no matter that this was actually a new moon and that London’s summer night streets seemed even darker than usual of late.

At the exact moment that the light reached its brightest intensity four shapes began to form inside. Not that anyone would have noticed, had they looked into the light it would have been the same as looking into the sun, only at a shorter distance. They would have been blinded instantly. Three of the shapes, though still vague were obviously male, the last was woman by the general shape of her, as a rule most men did not possess the mature curves of the last figure.

Finally the light faded away, leaving the park almost darker with its absence and four very bemused individuals. The first male had untidy black hair and hazel eyes which peered around through rectangular-framed glasses. Immediately to his left was another black-haired male, though his was straight with faint hints of curls and his eyes were grey. To their right was a woman with dark red hair and round green eyes the shade of emeralds and another male with slightly mussed golden-brown hair and amber eyes.

Their names were James Potter, Sirius Black, Lily Evans-Potter and Remus Lupin. Entirely unremarkable people, wizards all, aside from the fact that they had been dead for a very long time. Remus, the most recently deceased, had been gone almost 20 years. Not that the four companions knew that of course. They were still trying to get over the fact that they were, in fact, alive.

“Hey, Remus,” Sirius said after a moment, “any ideas why we might have suddenly been sent back? I’m pretty sure we were all dead a few moments ago and this is starting to look uncannily like the park across from good old Grimmauld.” His voice towards the end was sarcastic, the rest of his companions knew how much he hated Grimmauld.

Remus looked around and said, with no small amount of trepidation, “The only thing I can think of is things are really bad and the fates are interfering.”

“Aww, how bad can they be? I mean, it doesn’t seem like much time has gone by.”

“We have no idea how much time has gone by,” Lily interrupted briskly, “which is why I recommend we transfigure our jackets into something with hoods and go about finding out what’s going on.”

“How exactly are we going to go about that, Lily-flower?” James asked with a hint of exasperated sarcasm in his voice.

“You have heard of a wand, haven’t you James?” Lily said sweetly. “Good, since you currently have one in your jacket pocket like the rest of us. Convenient that we have our wands with us, since I’m pretty sure yours and mine were destroyed during the attack.”

James looked and sure enough, his familiar mahogany wand was sticking out of his jacket pocket. Sighing a little he murmured a spell under his breath and changed his basic jacket into a long, flowing brown travelling cloak with a hood that was spelled so only he could remove it. Transfiguration had been _his_ expertise after all.

He helped the others change their jackets as well before turning to Lily and saying, “Where do you suggest we go, oh masterminded one?”

“The _Daily Prophet_ office, idiotic one. It’s rather obvious choice, isn’t it?”

James blew out a breath and muttered something that only Remus heard. It must have been funny because the werewolf chuckled a little and said, “Let’s go then.”

The four Apparated with small ‘ _cracks’_ appearing just outside the Leaky Cauldron. They entered the building, gaining wary looks from old Tom the barkeep. James nodded slightly, trying to squash the sudden sense of foreboding when Tom first looked scared, then angry. They passed through the quiet, heavy atmosphere of the bar and entered Diagon Alley. Looking around with wide eyes Sirius was the first to speak, “Real cheery place, huh?”

The few shoppers in the Alley moved with the quickness that belied their desire to leave as soon as possible and the shops themselves were still and quiet, without the hustle and bustle of what the foursome remembered or the elegant jumble of outside displays. They walked quietly as a group down the Alley, headed for their destination. There was obviously no need to linger, no familiar faces to chat to.

They entered the _Daily Prophet_ office, looking around at the printed papers on display. Making their way to where the front salesperson sat behind a smooth wooden counter, James spoke. “Good afternoon.”

The man behind the counter looked up from what he’d been studying behind the counter, startled. He was dressed in perfectly normal street clothes and wouldn’t have looked out of place in Muggle London aside from a band of yellow rimmed in white around his left wrist and a thin leather choker around his neck with a faintly tooled image outlined in gold stamped on the front. His eyes had a faintly golden edge to them and a number branded on his right arm labeled why. Remus had a similar mark on his right arm; the man in front of them was a werewolf.

“Good afternoon,” he replied back cautiously, studying them. “What can I do for you?”

“Do you have back-articles with important history on them? We haven’t been in the country since 1997, we’re a little behind on politics and policies current.”

“A little?” The man said in disbelief. “I’d change that to a _great deal._ It’s June 10 th of 2017 now.”

James remained quiet for a moment. He felt as though he’d been hit by a Bludger, the air from his companions indicated likewise. He’d used 1997 because that was the year Remus was killed by Dolohov and it had been _20 years_ since?

The man had been studying him all the while and must have come to some conclusion because he said, “Come with me, my boss is away right now and this isn’t a conversation to be having in the open.”

They hesitated but after a long moment the desire to _know_ won over and they followed him into the back room of the office. Their still-unnamed helper dug through a gigantic file cabinet and came up with an armful of papers. He came over to where they had sat at a small table and said, “My name is Arid, by the way. So tell me, what’s really going on? Because four people don’t show up and ask what’s been going on here in the last 20 years, nor do they looked completely shell-shocked at the fact that it’s _been_ 20 years.”

James exchanged a hesitant look with the others before they made a decision and lowered their hoods as one. Judging by how wide Arid’s eyes went at their faces, he knew who they were. “Bloody hell,” he whispered, blinking rapidly. “How in the name of Merlin do four people come back from the dead?”

“We haven’t figured that out yet ourselves,” Lily said softly, seriously. “Are we going to be a problem, because if we are I can give you a strong ‘ _Obliviate_ ’ and we’ll be on our way.”

Arid laughed nervously, bitterly. “Don’t worry, I’m not a problem. Anything that causes problems for _them_ is good for me.”

“So Arid, what is the state of things right now?” Sirius asked.

Arid smiled grimly. “In a nutshell, it’s the worst it’s ever been. Order of the Phoenix was wiped out aside from a few members in 1997, what was left helped to form the Solaris Alliance, which the Ministry refers to simply as the ‘Resistance’. The Ministry is nothing more than an outer extension of _his_ policies, but unless you want to be killed or join the Solaris you do what you’re told.”

“What do you mean by Vo-“ James began.

“NO!” Arid harshly shouted, cutting James off and making them jump. “The name’s Taboo, you say it and you’re in for a lot of pain and trouble,” he explained.

“Okay,” James nodded, calming him down. “What did you mean by policies?”

Arid gave another bitter laugh. “Well for one, magical creatures have to be owned,” he fingered the choker around his neck, which they suddenly realised was actually a _collar._ “Werewolves have two choices, they can be forcibly Register and sterilized or they can be implanted with a tracking device and sent to what used to be Azkaban prison, which is now just an island for the ‘feral’ werewolves, underneath the control and absolute domination of one Fenrir Greyback.”

Remus growled furiously at the name, which made Arid give him a grim smile and say, “He got you too then? Fenrir finally got his wish about 15 years ago, he’s one of _his_ Death Eaters, though they aren’t called that now. What used to be his Inner Circle is now called the _Les Loups Noirs,_ the ‘Dark Wolves’. The Elite, as most call them. Their uniform is now formfitting black dragonhide leather trimmed in silver with a silver cloak. See that cloak and you’d better get out of sight, they’ve gotten nastier over the years.”

“What about Hogwarts and the children?” Lily asked.

“Hogwarts was closed down by the new Headmaster in 1998, the same year Dumbledore died and the Resistance went into hiding. The wards around the grounds are gone and now just the school itself is surrounded by a ward so strong you’re literally turned to ash if you touch it. Not even _he_ can get through, which as you can imagine has him furious.”

“As for the kids, if they’re lucky they get a letter that Portkeys them to a safe place where they’re given some form of magical education. Sometimes the ‘Dark Wolves’ or the more common ‘Enforcers’, which used to be the Aurors, gets to them first and they’re subjected to the new Ranking system.”

“Somehow I can tell I’m not going to like this ‘Ranking’ system,” Sirius said darkly.

Arid said shortly, “You’re not. The Ranking system is this band,” he waved his arm with the white-rimmed yellow band again. “It’s a form of immediate identification and classification. The central band denotes blood purity. Purple are purebloods with pureblood parents, blue are 1st generation purebloods like those with Muggleborn parents. Red denotes a half-blood, yellow a magical creature, brown a Muggleborn. Brown came from that Merlin-be-damned name, which I will not repeat here even though it’s common to address a Muggleborn that way now.”

The indignation must have shown in their eyes because Arid smiled sadly and said, “I know. It only gets worse however. Purebloods can only marry purebloods, half-bloods likewise. It’s magical creatures and Muggleborns that get the brunt of the nastier part of the Ranking system however. The outer band identifies the subject’s sexual maturity. White is for those beyond child-producing age or sterilized, pink is for immature and red is mature. When Muggleborn or magical creatures hit the age when this turns red, they are put on a list of names and have to marry within a year and produce a first child that shows magical ability within another two years. If a half-blood or pureblood is interested in them they can buy that magical contract.”

“What the hell?” Sirius yelled. “That’s just sick! Why are they forcing that kind of thing on people?”

“Because of the population drop due to the war,” Arid smiled in bitter irony. “They’re killing off the Resistance so they have to force the numbers back up.” He smiled again, in grim satisfaction, “The Solaris Alliance isn’t making it easy however.”

“Who’s all in the Solaris Alliance?” James asked, speaking up to get away from the awful talk of the ‘Ranking’ system.

“Wondered when you were going to ask that,” he commented, digging out a file. “These are the most important members, given full-colour photos and a nice price on their heads for the effort they’ve been forcing the ‘Dark Wolves’ and _him_ to expend looking for them.”

He opened the file and flipped it around. The first image was of a Weasley, immediately identifiable by his carrot-red hair and freckles. “George Weasley, member of the Solaris Alliance, wanted Dead or Alive, price of 2500 galleons. Poor bugger,” Arid added sadly.

“What do you mean?” Sirius asked. Along with Remus, he’d liked the energetic twins and was worried about Arid’s possible meanings.

“Almost all of the Weasley family was eradicated by the Dark Wolves. All that’s left is him, his older brother William and his younger brother Ronald. The middle boy Percy is alive as well, but he’s a member of the Ministry and quite comfortable in the Ranking system.”

Sirius shook his head in disgust, knowing Percy was never going to change his mind. Still, he felt sorry for George, Bill and Ron. It must have been hard to lose their entire family, they had been a tightly-knit unit for so long.

The next picture was a surprise. It showed black-eyed, hooked nose Severus Snape in all his usual greasy-haired glory, much unchanged aside from a few silvery hairs near his temples. “Severus Snape, traitor to the cause, member of the Solaris Alliance, wanted Dead or Alive, price of 5500 galleons.”

Upon hearing that he really _had_ been on the Order’s side the whole time Sirius could squirm a bit, remembering all the times he’d vocally doubted the man and taunted him about his _real_ allies.

“Draco Malfoy, traitor to the cause as well, member of the Solaris Alliance, wanted Dead or Alive, price of 5500 galleons furnished by his father Lucius Malfoy.”

“Neville Longbottom, member of the Solaris Alliance, wanted Dead or Alive, price of 7000 galleons.”

“Luna Lovegood, member of Solaris Alliance, wanted Dead or Alive, price of 7000 galleons.”

“Ronald Weasley, member of Solaris Alliance, wanted Dead or Alive, price of 7500 galleons.”

Bill Weasley’s was the same as his younger brother. The last two were significantly different.

The second-to-last image was of a woman with long, straight brown hair and glowing brown eyes, staring at something past their heads with fierce determination. Though the image was a wizarding picture, the only form of movement was in her flickering eyes. There was a single faint scar tracing just along her right cheekbone. “Hermione Granger, Muggleborn witch, Second in Command of Solaris Alliance, wanted Alive, price of 250,000 galleons.”

Remus whistled. “That’s a significant jump in price, not to mention all the rest have ‘dead’ or alive on their terms.”

“She’s also the second in command,” Arid reminded him, “she knows a lot of information about the Alliance, plus no doubt _he_ will want her publicly executed.”

The last picture made them stare. Unlike the rest, Harry was caught full frame, standing on what obviously had been a battleground, staring at them with utmost fury and hatred on his face. There was a long double scar running across the outer corner of his left eye to the corner of his mouth and his hair was wilder than ever, even with it being down to his shoulders. The wizarding photo caught him raising a blade steadily in his left hand, pointing it directly at them.

“Harry James Potter, Leader of the Solaris Alliance. Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, unregistered Werewolf. Wanted Alive, price of 750,000 galleons.”

“He’s _Headmaster?”_ James croaked.

Arid nodded. “He’s the only one the wards would accept as powerful enough to hold the school after Dumbledore’s death. As for the werewolf bit, all I know is that he’s another of Fenrir’s victims. I’ve met him just once and will never forget it. Just _don’t_ piss that bugger off, he’s outright deadly and hardly uses his wand anymore.”

James focused on Arid. “You’ve _met_ him? So tell me, if we wanted to get in touch with the Solaris Alliance, what would be our next move?”

“You’d go back to where it all started,” Arid replied calmly. “Godric’s Hollow was destroyed in a fit of temper by _him_ after the new Headmaster locked down the school. It’s a graveyard now for those who fight against _him_ , warded so those with ill intentions can’t enter. The Solaris Alliance keeps a tight surveillance on it. Don’t draw your wand; they’ll blast you to pieces before you can utter a spell.”

“Thank you, Arid,” Lily said genuinely as they stood.

“Don’t thank me yet, you’re not out of trouble until you convince _them_ that you are whom you appear to be,” Arid said calmly. “Good luck, be careful.”

With that the small group of four bid Arid goodbye and exited the shop. Arid watched them leave before pulling a medallion with a golden sun on the face and tapping it with a finger. “Four people headed for Godric’s Hollow, possible allies. Veritaserum necessary to prove identities,” he said quietly. The medallion glowed red at his words and he sighed, sliding it back into an interior pocket of his jacket.


End file.
